Publications

This research note presents the main findings of a study conducted by the Centre d'étude sur la pauvreté et l'exclusion (CÉPE), which focuses on the relationship between economic growth and the evolution of poverty.

In this research note, the CÉPE also addresses the shift in the composition of family units over the past decades and its effect on poverty. Finally, the question concerning the challenges raised by the Commission d'examen sur la fiscalité québécoise as pertains to the mix of tax methods for our society's less fortunate is discussed in the last part of this document.

• Influence de la croissance économique et des politiques fiscales sur la pauvreté au fil du temps (PDF, 1,1 Mo) (French only)

This study documents the low-income situation of people with mental health disorders and the high incidence of mental health disorders among people living in poverty. The analysis thus demonstrates the interaction and two-way relationship between mental health disorders and poverty.

The CÉPE also provides a brief literature review that identifies the context of this research note and presents the concepts that were selected and the main assumptions that underlie the links between mental health and poverty. Finally, the CÉPE provides a statistical analysis of the available data, including those from the 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS), and offers some suggestions of indicators that could be monitored.

• Les troubles de la santé mentale et de la pauvreté au Québec (PDF, 700 Ko) (French only)

This progress report brings together the most up-to-date data on poverty and inequality in Québec and provides the results of interregional, interprovincial and international comparisons of the most recent low income rates according to various thresholds. Simulations of typical cases make it possible to observe changes in poverty over time according to family situation. In conclusion, the report presents various inequality measures and various indicators of social exclusion.

New!
The CÉPE annual progress report now includes an update of data first published in the advisory opinion on measuring social exclusion associated with poverty that was published by the CÉPE in 2015 (Avis sur la mesure de l'exclusion sociale associée à la pauvreté : des indicateurs à suivre, 2015, French only). Going forward the annual progress report will include all the indicators of social exclusion recommended in that Advisory Opinion.

• Poverty, Inequality and Social Exclusion in Québec, 2018 Progress Report (PDF, 2.2 MB)
  La pauvreté, les inégalités et l'exclusion sociale au Québec : état de situation 2018 : synthèse (PDF, 1.2 MO) (French only)

Previously published progress reports

• Progress Report on Poverty, Inequality and Social Exclusion in Québec 2016 Progress Report (PDF, 2 MB)
  • Erratum (French only, PDF, 180 KB)
• Poverty, inequality and social exclusion in Québec, 2013 progress report (PDF, 552 KB)
• Poverty, inequality and social exclusion in Québec, 2012 progress report (PDF, 647 KB)
• Poverty, Inequality and Social Exclusion in Québec: Looking Ahead to 2013. 2011 Progress Report (PDF, 325 KB)

The purpose of this advisory opinion is to propose indicators for monitoring social exclusion.

Certain observations stand out from others when the nine indicators that have been developed are used:

• The low-income population is generally at much greater risk of experiencing social exclusion situations or mechanisms related to all five dimensions identified: material conditions, health, work and employment, education and networks.
• Several indicators seem to indicate the absence of deterioration or even a slight amelioration of certain aspects of social exclusion associated with poverty since 2000. However the stability suggested should not be interpreted as an indication of any significant improvement in people’s situations.
• Poverty is a major risk factor for experiencing social exclusion just as, conversely, exclusion itself is a significant impediment to getting out of poverty. Poverty and social exclusion exist in combination and can mutually reinforce each other.

Avis sur la mesure de l'exclusion sociale associée à la pauvreté (French only, PDF, 2,8 MB)

Avis sur la mesure de l'exclusion sociale associée à la pauvreté – Document synthèse (French only, PDF, 2,3 MB)

One of the mandates of the Centre d’étude sur la pauvreté et l’exclusion is to advise the Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Solidarity on measures and indicators of poverty, inequality and social exclusion for measuring Québec’s progress in implementing the Act to Combat Poverty and Social Exclusion.

This document constitutes an initial recommendation to that end:

• Taking the Measure of Poverty: Proposed Indicators of Poverty, Inequality and Social Exclusion to Measure Progress in Québec, Advice to the Minister (PDF, 312 KB)
  

(Centre d'étude sur la pauvreté et l'exclusion, 2008)

This document describes poverty trends in recent years and the proportion of low-income family units among Quebecers, the gap between their income and low-income thresholds, the duration of their situation, and their main sociodemographic and economic characteristics. More detailed information is provided about unattached persons and last-resort financial assistance recipients.

The document was commissioned by the Comité consultatif de lutte contre la pauvreté et l’exclusion sociale with a view to improving public understanding of what it means to be in a situation of poverty and social exclusion.

Highlights:

• The low income rate has dropped since the late 1990s.
• The Montréal region has the highest low-income rate, and the Chaudière-Appalaches region, the lowest.
• Low income is generally a temporary phenomenon, but is persistent in certain segments of the population, including single-parent families and unattached persons (in Canada).
• Nearly half of low-incomers are unattached persons.
• Slightly more than half of low-income family units have no earnings.
• The family units composed of an unattached person post the widest gap between income and low-income thresholds. This is also the case with last-resort financial assistance recipients, notably, those with no limitations to employment.

• Report on low incomes in Québec (French only, PDF, 1,58 MB)
• Press release (French only, PDF, 94 KB)

Published jointly by the Institut de la statistique du Québec (ISQ) and the Ministère de l’Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale (MESS), the Recueil statistique sur la pauvreté et les inégalités socioéconomiques au Québec (Morin 2006) groups together the main indicators in this field of study taken from the Inventaire des indicateurs de pauvreté et d’exclusion sociale (Morasse 2005). An invaluable research tool, it constitutes a reliable empirical benchmark to be used to measure over time the improvement or deterioration of the situation of persons and families living in poverty (historical transversal data), and also their relative position with respect to other groups in society.

Composed of more than 20 indicators calculated according to different conceptual approaches and methodologies, this can be used for assessing various statistical tools and determining which appear to be more productive. The indicators in this report were classed in three main categories.

• First are the poverty indicators  on the incidence of this phenomenon (either from a point of view of income or expenditures), on its gravity and also on related government transfers (particularly social assistance).
• Second is the impact of socioeconomic indicators of inequality using indicators for the distribution of income in society.
• Finally, two composite indicators deal with the problem of the most disadvantaged by combining economic statistics (income, expenditures, etc.) and social statistics (isolation with respect to social networks, social referral groups, etc.).
• Recueil statistique sur la pauvreté et les inégalités socioéconomiques au Québec (French only, PDF, 274 MB)

Published jointly by the Institut de la statistique du Québec and the ministère de l’Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale (MESS), this inventory of poverty and social exclusion indicators (Morasse 2005) gives an overview of the many ways of defining and measuring the phenomenon of poverty. It has two objectives: to cover all aspects of  the multidimensional phenomenon that is poverty and to open new avenues by presenting not only indicators calculated for Québec, but also those used elsewhere that could be the object of future compilations.

• Inventaire des indicateurs de pauvreté et d’exclusion sociale (French only, PDF, 474 KB)